According to the plan of the Chinese Football Association and the China Football Federation, clubs that have obtained the admission qualification for the domestic Chinese Super League and the Chinese First League in the new season must submit a confirmation letter of participation by April 8 at the latest. The opening time and division selection of the new season of professional leagues at all levels will also be officially confirmed on the 11th and 12th of this month.
Before the Qingming Festival, the inspection working group specially dispatched by the preparatory group of the China Football Federation has left Beijing, and then went to Hangzhou, Meizhou and other cities in the Chinese Super League candidate area to investigate. Affected by uncertainties such as the epidemic, the new season of the Chinese Super League is likely to not be able to start this month, and it is expected to be unveiled as early as the end of the May Day International Labor Day holiday.
On the afternoon of April 3, the preparatory group of the Chinese Football Association and the China Football Federation convened three professional league clubs to hold an online meeting on the preparations for the start of the new season at all levels. In addition to announcing the list of transfers of tier 3 league clubs to the primary election, clarifying the time limit for clubs to pay off wage arrears, and punishing the overdue wage arrears of clubs, the meeting also informed the clubs of the progress of the preparations for the start of leagues at all levels.
According to Guo Bingyan, head of the competition work of the preparatory group of the China Football Federation, the list of 3 professional league clubs released on the 3rd is the list of clubs that meet the admission conditions, and whether these clubs can finally participate in the relevant leagues at all levels depends on the situation in which they submit a confirmation letter of participation. Among them, the latest deadline for the Chinese Super League and China League A clubs to submit confirmation letters is April 8. According to the requirements, the confirmation letter submitted by the club must be accompanied by the details of the club's unpaid wages, the solution, and the proportion and specific amount of the 3 time points to resolve the arrears of wages. The confirmation letter must also be stamped with the official seal of the club and the relevant local departments to ensure the authenticity and seriousness of the club's participation.
The deadline for clubs that have obtained the qualification for admission to the Chinese Second League in the new season has been appropriately postponed, and there are two reasons: First, compared with the Chinese Super League and the Chinese First League, the start time of the new season of the Chinese Second League is later; on the other hand, in order to ensure the normal operation of the Chinese Second League clubs and no longer repeat the embarrassment of some clubs in the past season, the Chinese Football Association and the China Football Federation Preparatory Group require each Participating Club of the Chinese Second Division to submit a deposit of 600,000 yuan per family. In the words of a relevant person, "If such a little deposit cannot be paid, how can we believe that such a club can operate normally?" ”
At present, the top priority of the Preparatory Group of the Chinese Football Association and the China Football Federation regarding the start of the new season of the professional league is to confirm the opening schedule and the selection results of the division as soon as possible. It is understood that just before the start of the league meeting on the 3rd, the inspection team specially dispatched by the preparatory group of the China Football Federation has left Beijing and gone to Hangzhou, and plans to complete the inspection of the two cities in Hangzhou and Meizhou within this week. The content of the inspection involves the conditions of the competition and training venues, the reception capacity of the competition area, the broadcast conditions of the competition, and the transportation and security conditions. Next, the preparatory group of the China Football Federation will also arrange special personnel to visit the alternative divisions of the Chinese First Division and the Chinese Second Division.
As of April 5, the organizers of the event could not determine which candidate city would host the Chinese Super League. This is because there has been an epidemic in many places in the mainland recently, and the epidemic in the cities where some professional league clubs are registered is even more serious. Under such circumstances, the work of running the competition faces many variables and difficulties. Once the ideal candidate city is unable to host the race due to force majeure factors, then the organizer needs to activate other emergency plans, which shows that the inspection and other pre-competition preparations are complex and the workload is huge.
According to the results of previous communication between the Chinese Football Association and the China Football Federation, the new season of the Chinese Super League is scheduled to start later this month, that is, on April 28 or 29. However, due to the impact of the epidemic and the delay of the national football team to return home for several days, this plan is becoming more and more difficult to implement. According to the epidemic prevention regulations, the national football team and U23 football players who have arrived in Haikou will not be able to lift the quarantine until the 24th of this month at the earliest, and then return to various places. They normally need at least a few days of rest. In this way, the Chinese Super League is likely to start as early as early May, that is, after the end of the International Labor Day holiday.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Zhao